Indiana Takes Lead at Big Ten Championships

Friday, February 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

5 p.m.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Finals

2/24/2023 10:41:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Indiana is in first place with one day left to go at the 2023 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

IU men's swimming and diving had a massive performance on Friday (Feb. 24) to turn a nine-point deficit into a 106-point lead after three nights at the conference meet inside Canham Natatorium. The Hoosiers have 1,030.5 points to second-place Ohio State's 924.5.

"It was just a fantastic day for the Hoosiers," IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. " We had a great preliminary session. It was as close to perfect as you can get with just a couple misses. I thought we did a good job tonight. It's always hard to have a good night where you move up in points when you really stuck the morning, but I thought we held serve well.

"Again, we're finishing great, like in the 100 back, 3-meter, into the relay. Just having that momentum is huge. The score just completely, from the 100 breaststroke on, changed remarkably. We have to have a really good prelim tomorrow to shut the door."

Indiana totaled nine medals including three Big Ten Championships, one in each discipline, on Friday. Junior Brendan Burns won the 100-yard butterfly, redshirt senior Andrew Capobianco won on the 3-meter springboard and IU came out victorious in the 200-yard freestyle.

Burns captured his 15th-career Big Ten title while winning his second-consecutive 100-yard backstroke gold as well as IU's sixth consecutive conference championship in the event. The junior posted a pool record and an NCAA A cut 44.65 to win his first individual title this year. Burns will look to defend his 200 back and 200 fly titles on Saturday after he became the first athlete to win both at the same Big Ten Championships in last year's meet.

Capobianco and sophomore Quinn Henninger had a phenomenal battle on the 3-meter springboard that saw the veteran capture his fifth-career Big Ten diving title. Henninger made his move in round four, executing a 5156B for 93.60 points. Then, he put the pressure on Capobianco with a 96.90 in the final round. Capobianco, a model of consistency, posted marks of 86.70, 71.40, 84.00, 77.40 and 85.80 in the first five rounds to put himself in position to challenge in round six. Needing a 79.45 to tie, Capobianco threw down a 109C to tally a 95.00-point score and a masterful 500.30 total.

"The team really showed up today!" IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. "I want to give a shoutout to our swim and dive parents. We had the largest prelim crowd I have ever seen in 30-plus years of coaching. It was an electric atmosphere for IU all day today thanks to our parents and fans.

"Andrew gave us another hall-of-fame performance to remember, and I am so happy for him. Quinn, Carson (Tyler), Maxwell (Weinrich), William (Jansen) and Dash (Glasberg) showed us that IU diving will be in good hands when Andrew moves into the pro ranks."

Capobianco's score is IU's fourth over 500 in the 3-meter dive, his second. He previously went 505.20 to win the 2021 NCAA title. Henninger's silver-medal score of 484.75 surpassed his career-best 467.75 set at the same competition a year ago.

"We have one more day and six men ready to go on platform," Johansen added. "I have no doubt they will leave it all in the pool tomorrow."

Indiana set another pool record to win the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of senior Van Mathias (19.04 split), junior Gavin Wight (19.09) and sophomores Finn Brooks (19.04) and Rafael Miroslaw (19.12) improved on their NCAA A cut from midseason, going 1:16.29. Brooks, the lone newcomer to the group that finished on the podium at the 2022 NCAA Championships, posted IU's best split in the third leg.

In two events, Indiana finished athletes finished in the silver and bronze medal positions simultaneously. Junior Tomer Frankel and Brooks kicked off the evening with that sort of result in the 100-yard butterfly after Frankel threw down an NCAA A cut 44.66 and Brooks followed with a career-best 45.49. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Mathias (51.32) and sophomore Josh Matheny (51.50) placed second and third as well. Mathias' time was an NCAA A cut, while Matheny was a tenth of a second short.

Despite beating the time that won him the 200-yard freestyle, Miroslaw settled for a bronze medal this time. However, his 1:32.10 eclipsed the pool record by four hundredths of a second.

TEAM SCORES
Indiana – 1,030.5
Ohio State – 924.5
Michigan – 806
Wisconsin – 665.5
Minnesota – 516
Purdue – 483
Penn State – 407.5
Northwestern – 392

RESULTS
100 BUTTERFLY
2. Tomer Frankel – 44.66 (Silver, NCAA A Cut)
3. Finn Brooks – 45.49 (Bronze, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)

400 IM
4. Mikey Calvillo – 3:44.25 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
11. Maxwell Reich – 3:46.80 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
19. Tristan DeWitt – 3:48.21 (NCAA B Cut)

200 FREESTYLE
3. Rafael Miroslaw – 1:32.10 (Bronze, NCAA B Cut)
7. Tomer Frankel – 1:34.84 (NCAA B Cut)
11. Kai Van Westering – 1:35.89 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
15. Warren Briggs – 1:36.98
24. Jack Franzman – 1:38.67

100 BREASTSTROKE
2. Van Mathias – 51.32 (Silver, NCAA A Cut, Career Best)
3. Josh Matheny – 51.50 (Bronze, NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
5. Jassen Yep – 52.10 (NCAA B Cut)
9. Maxwell Reich – 52.85 (NCAA B Cut)

100 BACKSTROKE
1. Brendan Burns – 44.65 (Big Ten Champion, Pool Record, NCAA A Cut)
6. Gavin Wight – 46.27 (NCAA B Cut)
9. Luke Barr – 46.43 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
14. Kai Van Westering – 47.25 (NCAA B Cut)

3-METER DIVE
1. Andrew Capobianco – 500.30 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA Zone Qualifier)
2. Quinn Henninger – 484.75 (Silver, NCAA Zone Qualifier, Career Best)
7. Maxwell Weinrich – 365.00 (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
9. Carson Tyler – 457.35 (NCAA Zone Qualifier, Career Best)
15. Will Jansen – 302.80

200 FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Van Mathias, Gavin Wight, Finn Brooks, Rafael Miroslaw – 1:16.29 (Big Ten Champion, Pool Record, NCAA A Cut)

UP NEXT
Indiana hopes to turn its momentum into a second-consecutive Big Ten title. The first task on the final day of the conference meet is the preliminary session, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET Saturday (Feb. 25) morning. The 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform dive and 400 freestyle relay will be contested on Saturday.

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